SAHRC: Mandela went too far
2008-02-27 21:08
Johannesburg - Nelson Mandela reached out too far with reconciliation when he took power in 1994, the SABC reported the SAHRC as saying on Wednesday.
SA Human Rights Commission chairperson Jody Kollapen reportedly told a conference at the University of the Western Cape that the former president unintentionally contributed to divisions in the country.
Kollapen, according to the public broadcaster, said undue focus was on reconciliation rather than transformation at the dawn of democracy.
Beneficiaries of apartheid therefore resisted transformation because they saw it as undermining reconciliation.
They did not expect to make a contribution to SA's growth, the broadcaster reported Kollapen as saying.
He said the country was now grappling with finding a balance between the fears of white people and the expectations of black South Africans, the SABC reported.
Sapa was unable to reach Kollapen immediately.
- SAPA